-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Not only is Tetsuya Kumakawa the greatest ever Japanese ballet dancer , he is one of the best the world has ever seen . His athletic grace has won him fans wherever he has performed , and his dedication to the art continues to bring ballet to new audiences .

Capable of soaring leaps and flawless turns , Tetsuya `` Teddy '' Kumakawa has thrilled audiences the world over . Founded in 1998 , his K-Ballet company has built on the success he acheived at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden , London .

Born in Sapporo on Hokkaido -- Japan 's North Island -- in 1972 , Kumakawa took up ballet after seeing his eight year-old cousin , Hironao perform at school in Sapporo .

Like any 10 year old boy , his new hobby had to compete with other activities -- he also enjoyed kendo , baseball and drawing -- but it was ballet that he really fell in love with .

From a young age Kumakawa had been keen to see the world and the arrival of foreign guest tutors at his school only reinforced those desires .

But it was Swiss ballet teacher Hans Meister 's visit to Hokkaido that proved to be a turning point in Kumakawa 's nascent career . Meister encouraged him to travel and recommended that he attend the Royal Ballet School -LRB- RBS -RRB- in London or the Canadian National Ballet School .

Kumakawa was just 15 years old when he left home to take up a place at the RBS . Less than two years later , in January 1989 , he won both the Gold Medal and the newly established Prince Takamado Prize at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland . He was without question the star of the competition , producing soaring leaps in a performance from ` Don Quixote ' .

In the spring of 1989 he turned professional , becoming the first Asian dancer to join the Royal Ballet Company -LRB- RBC -RRB- -- his first solo part was the leading mandolin player in `` Romeo and Juliet . '' In June he won the Classical Ballet Prize at the Eurovision Young Dancer of the Year competition held in Paris .

Kumakawa experienced a meteoric rise through the ranks of the RBC . He quickly became a Soloist , dancing the Act 1 pas de trois in Tchaikovsky 's ` Swan Lake ' and completed a memorable performance as the Bronze Idol in La Bayadère -- a cameo role that showcased his extraordinary jumping ability .

The following season he was chosen for the role of the Fool in the premiere of Kenneth Macmillan 's ` The Prince and the Pagodas ' . In 1991 he was promoted to First Soloist and was a Principal dancer by 1993 .

So developed a mutual love affair between Kumakawa , his new fans and his adoptive city . `` I was so pleased to participate in British culture , '' he told The Japan Times in 2004 .

By the age of 26 ` Teddy ' , as he had become known to his friends in the UK -- ` kuma ' means ` bear ' in Japanese -- had danced the full repertoire of classical and modern roles at the RBC .

The man who had wowed London audiences with his acrobatic jumps and audacious turns was about to leap into a new chapter of his life .

In 1998 he left the Royal Ballet to found his own company -- the K-Ballet -- back home in Tokyo . It was a highly controversial move at the time . Not only had he upped sticks in the middle of a season , he also took five of the Royal Ballet 's star male performers with him to Japan . The British Press and the ballet fraternity were not impressed .

Greeted as a returning hero in his native country , Kumakawa took on the roles of leading dancer , teacher , artistic director and company manager simultaneously . But despite the formidable workload and responsibility the new K-Ballet flourished , fostering a wider interest in Japanese ballet .

In 2004 , Kumakawa established the K-Ballet School . The same year , the K-Ballet became the first Japanese ballet company to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York .

A career-threatening knee injury , suffered whilst on a K-Ballet tour of Japan in May 2007 has temporarily sidelined Kumakawa from performing . But he expects to be back on stage next year , delighting audiences with virtuoso performances once again .

In the meantime , Kumakawa -- who continues to enjoy pop star status in Japan -- continues to pass on his expertise to a new generation of dancers . E-mail to a friend

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The greatest Japanese dancer is known as `` Teddy '' to friends and fans

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Experienced a meteoric rise through the ranks at the Royal Ballet , London

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Controversially left the Covent Garden stage to form his own company